Estate agents trusted more than politicians (yes, that old story)

First the good news - estate agents are trusted more than politicians and no less than bankers. Now the bad news: most other professions are trusted more.

The annual story whereby a survey is made of trusted professions has come out with the usual pecking order; estate agents on just one per cent, equal with bankers. Politicians have zero per cent.

Other professionals, especially those who have been at the forefront of the response to the pandemic, perform better.

Medical and healthcare professionals are the most trusted, although even these get scarcely over half the support, at 54 per cent. Next come scientists on 24 per cent and teachers on 12 per cent. 

The police receive seven per cent trust.

Agents’ one per cent put them below lawyers and traffic wardens - although they get only three and two per cent respectively.

Perhaps luckily for the Estate Agent Today editor, journalists did not even form a category so no percentage was recorded. 

When it comes to the qualities that build the most trust with the public, the most important is honesty according to 67 per cent, then knowledge (15 per cent) and respectfulness (eight per cent).

The survey was conducted earlier this month amongst 1,174 UK adults.

Matthew Cooper, founder of Yes Homebuyers - the company commissioning the survey - says: “It’s perhaps … surprising to see estate agents are still getting such a rough deal. The stamp duty holiday has caused a huge influx of buyers and the nation’s army of estate agents have been the ones working tirelessly to facilitating these sales despite huge market backlogs building at the back end of the transaction process.”